FireFlamesHeat
by JESSting123
Summary: An orphan, no last name and a picture of a man and woman.CARBY! K for now at least!
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place about when season 16 would. All you have to know is that Joshua didn't die and Carter didn't leave. Obviously Kem's still there.**

Everything belongs to NBC and all those ER peoples, except Robby and Tommy.

_Fire. Flames. Heat._

A nine year old boy with no last name. He had been left on the doorstep of a Catholic Church with nothing but a piece of paper with Robby, written on it and a picture. The church was known for taking in orphans. He had ended up being raised by nuns. He was always the most restless boy they had. Now, Robby's home was being burnt down.

A section had been cleared out for the orphans to live in. A back door led out into a world pretty much none of them knew unless you had been old enough to remember it when you had been orphaned. All except Robby had escaped out of that door.

When he finally heard the fire alarm he had rushed to his quarters and opened his chest full of possessions. His most prized was hidden in a case of wood he had built himself when the nuns had got them carving knives and wood to play with. He pulled the picture out of the case and stared at it in a daze.

It was a simple picture of a man and woman. The woman was resting comfortably on the man's lap. Both looked content to Robby. Two bright smiles lit up the picture, he was obviously pulling her down for a kiss.

Robby figured they were his parents, but if they were that happy, why did they give him up? When he asked the nuns to look at the picture they refused.

On the back of the picture was written:

John and Abby Always Equal

LOVE FOREVER!

LOVE YOU GUYS!

XOXOXOXOXO From Susan Lewis XOXOXOXOXO

Christmas 2002, County General Hospital- ER

Robby had to find his parents, but that meant he had to find Susan Lewis first. She would lead him to his parents. Suddenly there was an explosion. He hurried thru the front door. The fire had been lit by him, in the conjoining room. He looked at the road sign which he knew would lead him to the County Hospital. His friend Tommy, a 19 year old orphan, had told him he remembered going there when he was sick and then being brought here. That was 11 years ago. He had Leukemia and was diagnosed there. The sign read- Cook County General Hospital, 2nd left turn. Then he ran.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok everybody, this story was started quite a while back, and I forgot all about it, until I was adding my new story, (which some of you may have read) **Dear Abby, Dear John**. I was just reading through the three I had published, and for some reason unbeknownst to me, I decided to write more. I got a bunch of good reviews about it, so you know, whatever. I just started up writing again because I haven't had access to a computer for ages. Beware, I'm a little rusty!

Young Robby walked through the ambulance doors. The sound of sirens behind him. He was almost sure they were heading for the church he had grown up in. He gathered his wits, and walked up to a slightly older woman with blonde hair, a few grays around her temples.

"Umm, miss? I was wondering if..." Robby started.

"You'll need to have a seat in chairs, honey. Where are your parents?" the nurse said. Robby made out the name tag to say Lydia.

"Umm," he stuttered. He had thought he had prepared for everything. But he hadn't. He tried as fast as he could to come up with the story from the top of his head. "I...uhh...they're not here. My parents are busy. I came myself."

"Well, sweetheart, let's get you somewhere to sit down, then," the nurse replied.

"No!" Robby yelped. He tried to compose himself. "I mean, I need to see someone. Her name is Susan Lewis. I think she works here."

"Well, yes dear, she does. But she's with a patient right now. How about I get you into a room and warm you up? Then, I'll find Dr. Lewis for you. Is that okay with you?" she smiled sweetly. Secretly she wondered who this little boy was, and why he looked so familiar, yet he was a complete stranger to her. Or so she thought.

Robby nodded, slightly bewildered at the sight of a hospital. He had never been to one before. The closest he had been to the outside world was the annual field trips to museums and amusement parks. He thought again, maybe he had been to a hospital before, maybe when he was born. He thought about what Tommy had said about what he remembered the first day Robby had been at the orphanage. He said he was with the nun that had answered the door bell. He also recalled that Robby had been perfectly clean. A baby blue and green onesie warmed him along with the matching blue and green balnket. They both had turtles on them. Robby still had those two things in the satchel on his back, along with the wooden case and picture. Those possesions were the biggest reason turtles were his favorite animals. He had had Tommy carve one on his wooden box, the one with his prized picture in it.

Before Robby had escaped his day dream, he found himself being gently guided into a roon filled with lockers, a refrigerator, a small table, and a couch. Lydia set him down on the couch and called for another nurse. His name was Malik and he was a hefty african american. Robby thought he remeinded him of one of the jazz musicians he and Tommy so oftenly listened to. At the time he couldn't remember what his name was though.

"Hey, buddy. What's your name?" Malik questioned.

"I'm Robby. Do you know where Susan Lewis is?" he started in.

"Yea, Robby I do. But, we'll have to wait on her to get done with her patient, okay?" Malik said, giving the nine year old a smile and setting off towards the refrigerator. After he checked to make sure Robby had agreed with his reasoning, he pulled open the refrigerator door.

"Want anything to drink, Robby?" Malik asked.

"Umm, sure what do you have?" Robby wandered over to the door to stand beside the larger man. He was starting to like these people. They were really nice. But, he thought, that is their job.

"Well, looks like we've got Mountain Dew, tea, Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, and milk," he said his eyes flashing towards the boys.

"No Sprite I guess?" Robby asked, shrugging like he really didn't care.

But, Malik noticed the disappointed look on his face and wondered about the "secret stash" of Abby's lying the back of the fridge. "Hold on a sec," he said walking to the door of the lounge and poking his head out.

Robby heard him talking to someone outside, "Hey, Lockhart? Can this kid have some of your "secret stash" of Sprite?" he said, chuckling as he said the words secret stash.

"Yea, sure but just one. And, I mean it if you take one and it's not the kid. I'll kill you," he heard the voice answering back. Giggling as the melody of her voice chimed through his ears. Somehow, it sounded familiar.

"You just got lucky, bud. Usually she doesn't let anyone, and I mean anyone, have her Sprite," he smiled widely and sauntered back to the fridge. They sat back down just as two figures entered the room. One being Susan Lewis, the other's face hit Robby like a ton of bricks. It was Abby. It was his mom.


	3. Chapter 3

**All right everybody, I know it's been a while since I updated. What can I say, writer's block. Well, I know that was a bit of a cliff hanger, so here you go. Hope you like it.**

Robby stood there, the expression on his face was a mix of surprise, happiness, and confusion. He looked straight into the woman's eyes. They were shiny brown, and twinkling from laughter. He then studied her face a bit closer. He had her nose, her ears, even her lips. Her hair was lighter though, and it shined a bit with blonde highlights. His mouth was gaping open, he looked just like her.

"You...you...you're my mom. You're Abby. And, you...you're Susan Lewis. Wow," Robby stuttered.

"I think I'm gonna leave the three of you alone, now," Malik bailed from the lounge, leaving three open mouthed people looking like they came straight from a comic book.

"Are you, umm...are you Robby?" Abby said a look of shock still plastered on her face.

"Yep, I'm Robby. And now I know you've gotta be my mom. Dang, I mean seriously, dang. I look just like you," Robby replied calmly, a huge smile on his face.

Tears slowly fell down Abby's cheeks. She had known when she had placed that picture in the car seat with her baby boy almost ten years ago, she had wanted this to happen. She just didn't think it would've happened this fast.

"Yea honey, I'm your mom. And you're my son," Abby had this melancholy look on her face. "God, you're my son. You're so, big!"

"Yea, of course if you're my mom, I've gotta be your son," Robby replied earnestly.

"Hey honey, how did you know to look for me?" Susan suddenly jumped in.

"Well, duh. My mom put a picture of her and my dad in my car seat when she left me at the church. The picture had my mom and dad's names on it. And, you signed it," Robby said as if any dumb person would've known.

"Oh yea, yea. I totally forgot about that picture. God, how old are you?" Susan asked, stunned.

"I'm nine. I'm not exactly sure when my birthday is though, I just wait for the beginning of the year, then I'm a year older. I wait for the beginning cause that's when my mom left me on the steps. It was January 2, to be exact," Robby said coolly.

"December 31," Abby said.

"What?" Robby asked.

"You were born on December 1, 6 lbs 9 oz, 11:59 PM, Robert Jacob Carter - Wyscenski," she said. When Robby looked up at her, she had tears flowing freely down her cheeks and a huge smile that reached her eyes on her face.

Robby smiled, bigger than he had ever smiled in his life. He took a step forward, arms outstretched, and looked to his mother for approval. She laughed and nodded, taking one short stride and pulling his small frame onto her lap, sinking into the couch.

"Susan, Abby, we gotta trauma coming in. Church fire, no majors just a few kids and some nuns that need to be checked out. Hey, who's this little guy?" a man in his mid thirties walked in and asked. He had brown hair, the same color as Robby's, and his eyes were a darker brown that Abby's, a color that matched Robby's.

"John, this is our son. This is Robby," Abby replied.

"Oh my God," was the only reply Carter gave. That is, before he ran over to the cough and pulled them both into an embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

**FireFlamesHeat**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. It's all the ER people's stuff. Except for Robby and Tommy, who we will see more of. Also, I'm taking claim to Joshua's personality and Kendra. Hope you all like it!**

**Author's Note: A couple flashbacks in this chappy, they're probably going to be in the rest of the story so just to let everyone know now, they're in italics and will start with 2 and 1 in front of them and end the same way.**

**Chapter 4: Eplainations and Remembering**

"Hey there Robby," Carter said pulling away from his son and Abby's embrace.

"Hi, you must be my dad. Nice to meet you," Robby replied sounding too old for his age.

"Hi, John Carter. Dad if you feel like it," John laughed. To him it felt right. He knew he shouldn't be feeling the way he was, but he felt at home sitting on the couch with his eldest son and his ex-girlfriend, who was again his best friend. he started to remember the day when Abby had told him that he had a son. And, this son wasn't merely 3 months old, this son was 10 months old and in the care of a local church.

_The day was cold and snowy outside. He sat in a familiar couch with familiar lockers and a fridge and even pictures on cupboards with faces he knew. But, he was lost. The words that had come from her lips, lips he used to kiss and love, were words that would sting him for 8 years to come._

_"You have a son, John" she had said._

_"Of course I have a son. I know I have a son, I'm not totally idiotic!" he had screamed back. The whole fight had started when she had found him in the drug lock-up getting ready to shoot up. He was stressed, she knew that. He had a 3 month old baby and a girlfriend that was threatening to leave. The whole ER knew that. He and Kem had had an outrageous fight right in the middle of the ER just a week before because she said he worked too much and she couldn't take care of Joshua by herself for the 12 hours a day that he worked. 12 hours a day, everyday working, that had been his drug of choice when the fighting had started. She was upset because he had instantly become friends with Abby again and he spent a lot of time with her. She thought he was still hung-up on Abby, he had denied it, but it was true._

_"No, John. Not Joshua, Robby. Robert Jacob Carter-Wyscenski! He was born December 31 at 11:59 PM! He was born without a father, John. You don't realize how many times I tried to call you while you were gone. Or maybe you do. Maybe you're the reaosn I never got through, why the line was always busy or why you were always away, sometimes they said you were away and I could hear you talking in the background. How sad is that John? You know I sat in the delivery room with Susan holding my hand on one side and Elizabeth on the other. Susan got paged while I was in labor and had to run down to the ER. When she got back she told me you were back! Dammit Carter, you could've been there for your own child's birth, but no, I was told you were downstairs with a very pregnant woman on your arm! Do you know how hard that was for me? To know you were home, but not being able to tell you that you had a son because I was afraid of rejection. Not rejection of me, but rejection of Robby! I was afraid that my son, a son I loved from the moment I knew he was inside of me, would be rejected by his own father because his mother wasn't as good as hid father's noew girlfriend. I loved that boy, John. But, even though I loved him, I couldn't stand to look at him. Everyone told me how much he looked like me, but to me he looked exactly like you. He was living proof of what we used to have! Living proof that I loved you, but you didn't love me, and that hurt." she had spit it all out in less than five breathes. _

_Then, she just gave him this look and told him he was safe and at a church locally where he would be kept safe. Then, she walked out. She left and he sat there. He sat there contemplating the decisions he had made in the last year and a half. He decided to talk to Abby, to see if she had a picture of his son. He wanted to see his son. Robby, Robert Carter-Wyscenski, to him, living proof of he and Abby's love. Love he would always have and never forget._

_Shortly there after, he and Abby had had a talk. She had given him a copy of the only two pictures she had of their son. One was of she and her son, it would've been the picture of happiness, he decided, if he had been standing beside those two people. The other of just Robby, laying wrapped up in a little blanket with a turtle on it, his big brown Carter-made-over eyes already open and seeming as if he was looking around curiously at this big, confusing, messed-up world he would have to endure all his years. People were right, he did look like Abby, but he could see in his eyes...himself. He knew that was what Abby saw everytime she had looked into his big brown baby eyes. _

_They had become friends again, quickly. Deciding that it was best if Robby was left in the church for as long as possible. Also, that Carter wouldn't be telling Kem any of this unless absolutely necessary as so not to cause problems in their relationship. She had explained to him that she had placed the picture in his carrier and he understood completely the value it would have in his eldest son's life. It also held the possibility that he would one day dome back to them._

And he did, just faster than either of them expected he would. He had had another child in the last 8 years though. He was the father of three, Robert Jacob Carter-Wyscenski 9 years old, Joshua Truman Carter 8 years old, and Kendra Abigail Carter age 6, he had had a long a strenuous fight on his only daughter's middle name. He wanted her to be named after his best friend and confidante, Kem on the other hand was insanely jealous of John and Abby's close-knit relationship as best friends. He had won though, and when he told Abby of this, she was ecstatic. She hadn't wanted him to do it at first, calling him crazy dozens of times before finally agreeing to it, but only because he threatened to tell everyone of the ER staff her dirtiest little secrets, like what was under her respective underware in her underware drawer.

He held his smile back at the thought of it and stared down at his oldest son. He brought one hand up and ruffled the mess of brown hair that lay on his son's head and laughed as his son stuck his tongue out at him fixing it subconsciously with a shake of his head making it instantly his own little style.

Three heads flipped to the lounge door as it opened again, this time Kem Carter, Josh Carter, and Kendra Carter all walked through the door. Bewilderment written all over their faces.


End file.
